Enduring Patagonia

by Gregory Crouch

Patagonia is a strange and terrifying place, a vast tract of land shared by Argentina and Chile where the violent weather spawned over the southern Pacific charges through the Andes with gale-force winds, roaring clouds, and stinging snow. Squarely athwart the latitudes known to sailors as the roaring forties and furious fifties , Patagonia is a land trapped between angry torrents of sea and sky, a place that has fascinated explorers and writers for centuries. Magellan discovered the strait that bears his name during the first circumnavigation. Charles Darwin traveled Patagonia's windy steppes and explored the fjords of Tierra del Fuego during the voyage of the Beagle. From the novel perspective of the cockpit, Antoine de Saint-Exupry immortalized the Andes in Wind, Sand, and Stars, and a half century later, Bruce Chatwin's In Patagonia earned a permanent place among the great works of travel literature. Yet even today, the Patagonian Andes remain mysterious and remote, a place where horrible storms and ruthless landscapes discourage all but the most devoted pilgrims from paying tribute to the daunting and dangerous peaks.

Gregory Crouch is one such pilgrim. In seven expeditions to this windswept edge of the Southern Hemisphere, he has braved weather, gravity, fear, and doubt to try himself in the alpine crucible of Patagonia. Crouch has had several notable successes, including the first winter ascent of the legendary Cerro Torre's West Face, to go along with his many spectacular failures. In language both stirring and lyrical, he evokes the perils of every handhold, perils that illustrate the crucial balance between physical danger and mental agility that allows for the most important part of any climb, which is not reaching the summit, but getting down alive.

Crouch reveals the flip side of cutting-edge the stunning variety of menial labor one must often perform to afford the next expedition. From building sewer systems during a bitter Colorado winter to washing the plastic balls in McDonalds' playgrounds, Crouch's dedication to the alpine craft has seen him through as many low moments as high summits. He recounts, too, the riotous celebrations of successful climbs, the numbing boredom of forced encampments, and the quiet pride that comes from knowing that one has performed well and bravely, even in failure. Included are more than two dozen color photographs that capture the many moods of this land, from the sublime beauty of the mountains at sunrise to the unrelenting fury of its storms.

Enduring Patagonia is a breathtaking odyssey through one of the worldís last wild places, a land that requires great sacrifice but offers great rewards to those who dare to challenge it.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, Climbing, Adventure, Mountaineering, Memoir, Nature

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Gregory Crouch is an author who specializes in adventurous and historic subjects.

Most recently, he is the author of The Bonanza King: John Mackay and the Battle Over the Greatest Riches in the American West (Scribner, 2018). Crouch also wrote the true-life World War II flying adventure China’s Wings (Bantam, 2012) and the mountaineering memoir Enduring Patagonia (Random House, 2001).

Crouch has reviewed more than 30 books for the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, New York Times Book Review, and NPR Books, among others, and has published stories in The Atlantic, National Geographic, National Geographic Adventure, Smithsonian, Time, American History, World War II, Islands, Outside, Popular Mechanics, Backpacker, and many other national and regional media, and dozens of adventure stories for Rock & Ice, Ascent, Alpinist, and Climbing, where he was a senior contributing editor. He is also the author of Goldline: Stories of Climbing Adventure and Tradition (The Mountaineers, 2001) and Route Finding: Navigating with a Map and Compass (Falcon, 1999).

Crouch and his work have been quoted in the New York Times, Newsweek, The Atlantic, Forbes, Nautilus, Alpinist, the Washington Post, the South China Morning Post, and by NPR.

A graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, Crouch also completed U.S. Army Airborne and Ranger schools and led two infantry platoons. He left the Army to pursue other interests, most notably in rock and ice climbing and high-stakes international mountaineering. He developed a particular obsession with the storm-swept peaks of Patagonia and made seven expeditions to those remote mountains, where he made a number of world-class first ascents.

Reviews

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

To begin with, at no time in my life was I physically healthy enough to go into mountain-climbing. During my childhood, I spent years with severe frontal headaches caused by a pituitary tumor, then I had a quarter of a century of severe osteoarthritis, and now I am old and have a titanium left hip. So, naturally, I dream of climbing mountains; and I devour books about climbing mountains.

Later this year (2011), my girlfriend and I plan to visit Patagonia. I will be hundreds of miles from Cerro Fitzroy, cerro Torre, and the other Southern Andes peaks discussed in Gregory Crouch's Enduring Patagonia, but I still, before I cash in my chips, hope to stand at their base and look up -- maybe linger for a few days reveling in the bad weather (some of the worst in the world). But I don't think my girlfriend would like that very much.

Crouch has that mixture of fierce pride and humility that is part of the makeup of great climbers:

What do we bring back through the breach? Nothing. Nothing but memories of the most powerful emotions and visions of cold, perfect places; the sound of utter silence; the howl of storm; the crack and thunder of an avalanche; the clatter and whirr of rockfall; the sparkle of the stars; the full power of desire; the sweat of effort; and the taste of real fear. We have looked up at a piece of unclimbed mountain and exercised true human power—we have imagined a future and then made it happen. But after such a set of fantastic summit moments I am left with a haunting doubt. The question tickles away at the base of my spine whenever I run through the litany of my Patagonian experience. Am I worthy of such moments, am I worthy of such astonishing beauty? And the certain, damning answer is no.

In this book, we follow Crouch on half a dozen ascents -- not all of them successful -- but all of them going some distance to explain what the life of a climber is like.

I have read Eric Shipton's two books about ascents in Patagonia (Land of Tempest) and Tierra Del Fuego (The Fatal Lodestone), and I am delighted to find in Crouch his equal.

As I become increasingly unable to indulge in the type of adventure that marked the lives of Shipton and Crouch, I can at least dream; and my dreams become ever more pronounced.

This is a wonderful book and well worth the read.

[Melina Watts · Rating 5 out of 5]

Crouch writes about snow and ice and daunting mountains like the lover from whom you never recover; just luminescent prose. His ability to take you into far away places is magic. Real life escapism, the best.

[Patrick Dean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Crouch is one of the best I've read at describing the suffering involved in pursuing one's dreams in the world's hardest mountains -- and at describing the joys and exhilarations that make that suffering worthwhile.

A West Point graduate, Crouch has an interesting personal story that adds depth to his account of time spent in the mountains of Patagonia, as well as his forays into construction jobs and other grunt work to pay for his alpine obsession.

Recommended.

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The most thoughtful and thought provoking book I've read on the "Why" of hard alpine climbing. Not full of the bluster and angst of an M. Twight manifesto nor the staid and dry accounting in the stuff-upper-lip style of historical British mountaineering. It pulled me in with its honesty and willingness to admit weakness and held me for its duration with Crouch's clear and simple style.

[Amar Pai · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting guy, West Point to Army Ranger School to alpinist dirtbag

Does as good a job as any book I've seen on explaining the perverse appeal of alpinism

It still doesn't appeal though. Brr

Does make me want to go back to Patagonia. I've been but I feel like I never experienced "Patagonian weather" or anything like what's in this book

[Tamara Covacevich · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had this one on my to-read list for quite some time. I decided every book I read about Patagonia I'll have in physical form (since I got my kobo I only buy in physically either Patagonian books or books that do not exist in digitial), so I decided to put it off until I moved to London. I was quite surprised when roaming a local bookshop in Punta Arenas I saw this paperback (in English), and I had to buy it.

Although the related adventures are mainly from the area of Chalten (and Patagonia is so much more than that), I still don't mind the author abused the title since you can feel his love for the land throughout the book.

I really enjoyed this read. Unlike other first accounts of mountaineering, the author really went deep into his thoughts and feelings and philosophy about the mountains + suffering + fear, and several rang with me.

I almost never reread a book, but I want use this as a note to my future self to re read this book in a year or so.

"I don't sleep the sleep of the just. All I've done is climb when the sun shines and all I've done to deserve the sunshine is spend a lot of time in Patagonia"

"Clouds tear over their tops at impossible speed, but inside the wind plays through my heartstrings. Patagonia-it feels like home"

"There were gaps between my vision for myself, what I actually was capable of, and what I actually did. And an expedition is more rewarding the smaller those gaps are"

"Time to get on with the business of failure"

"Perhaps the best answer is: because I love it. I love it even as I am freezing my ass on this cold, dark bivy... I love everything about it without qualification. I love to coil ropes and to carry heavy loads. I love the sky and I love the storm, the ice and the stone. I love to succeed and I love to try. I love to wait and I love to act; I love to shiver and I love to sweat. I love the freedom and I love the discipline. I love Patagonia and I love to climb. Perhaps the worst answer is: because it is an escape. Patagonia is an engagement, not an escape"

"We've been so busy engineering the danger and uncertainty out of the world that we humans rarely get opportunities to perform deliberate acts of physical courage"

"This is a real and fascinating paradox of alpinism: You must care completely, and at the same time, you can't care at all"

"There is one alpine weapon that I do possess in abundance, however, and that is time"

"But no place on earth sells what I took away from Patagonia. No money buys the friendship and respect of an Alex Hall, a Charlie Fowler, a Stefan Hiermaier, or a Jim Donini. I had not been found wanting, and I had seen the heart of the sunrise. I left Patagonia a rich man"

"...I climb because I thirst to throw back the margins of my world. There remains so much that I do not know"

[Suzanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was challenged with reading a book set in Argentina, but I'd had my fill of South American novels.  Thinking outside the fiction box, I thought I'd try a work of non-fiction instead .  Many such books are "travel" memoirs, but Enduring Patagonia is more of a thrill seeker's adventure.  Gregory Crouch is an avid alpinist, and the mountain range known as Patagonia became his holy grail.

I don't know anything about mountain climbing.  I don't even hike outdoors, but that doesn't mean I cannot appreciate the inner drive of someone like Crouch, who constantly challenges his own physical and mental limits by facing a difficult climb.  In fact, I was curious how a person becomes a serious climber, how it affects their life and how they view the rewards of a successful ascent.

Crouch is an excellent literary guide and a terrific writer.  As I reclined in my favorite reading chair, I was transported to the Andes, where, in the heart of winter, he attempts the fearsome Cerro Torre.  Crouch's enthusiasm is infectious and his description of the surroundings are breathtaking.  It's dangerous and rugged, and while there are a few females at base camp, this is primarily a man's world.  It's a chance explore the outer boundaries of masculinity - strength, intellect, bravery, and only a very few will reach the summit.

I would imagine anyone interested in mountain climbing would give this book a solid five stars.  There is some serious detail that at times made my eyes glaze over (and I knocked off half a point for that), but otherwise I appreciated the author's ability to relate his experiences.

[Scott Ransom · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book -- and I'm not saying that because I know Greg, went to West Point right after he left and his legend was still large there, or even because I've climbed with him. I really liked it because parts of it really amazingly expressed some of the simple beauty of climbing and being in the mountains.

His writing is best (and by that I mean really, really good) when he is telling the simple stories about the people that he is with on his adventures. Examples in this book include the interlude in the Tierra del Fuego with Alfredo (fantastic) and the pages about supermouse (laughed out loud many times). Unfortunately, I think some of his "deeper" explanations of why he loves to climb, and what it "feels" like to be in the mountains and in (extremely) stressful and life-threatening situations seemed a bit heavy-handed and overwrought. But I can understand that -- there are powerful emotions there and they are hard to explain to non-climbers.

As a climber who feels very similarly about the mountains and outdoors as Greg does, in general though, this book was a pleasure to read. For non-climbers there would be some jargon issues (which I suspect is why there is a glossary), but as I said, it isn't the climbing writing that made me love it, it was the simple, people stories. And no glossary is needed for that.

Definitely recommended.

[Juli Roffman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is without doubt the best climbing book I've ever read... Perhaps the best book I've ever read. Crouch shares his epic climbing and life stories in a vividly way that, together with amazing writing invoques the true heart of climbing dangerous mountains and living a life worth living. The level of beauty and sometimes scary dispossession in his stories makes this book a journey through some of the hardest and most beautiful mountains in the world a journey through a man's heart and soul as well. I've been to Patagonia many many times in my life and without doubt no descriptions pay as much homage to the beauty and insanely wild spirit of this place like Crouch's book does.
A must read!

[Jennie Floyd · Rating 4 out of 5]

This beautifully written book details the writer's three climbing expeditions in Patagonia, the part of the Southern Andes shared by Argentina and Chile. It's one of the harshest landscapes on earth, with some of the most difficult-to-climb peaks. Crouch writes of the climbs in fascinating detail, really making me see and feel the experience. I will never attempt to climb a mountain, for many reasons, but I love books like this one that make the experience come alive for us more timid folks. Highly recommended if you like books like Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer. I think Crouch is actually the better writer.

[Riley · Rating 5 out of 5]

More of an examination of the climber psyche than a tale of climbing. Refreshingly unencumbered by the vanity and posturing found in most climbing accounts.

Seriously inspiring, like a Dr Doom treatise without the insanity.

New favorite book/author.

[Athena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Have you ever loved a book so much that you cannot bring yourself to finish it? I read 95% of this in 2 days, then spent weeks dragging it out. The closer I got to the end the less I was willing to read. Crouch's writing is engaging and makes you feel like you're having a beer, catching up with an old friend.

[Lynda Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Greg sure makes Patagonia sound like a tough place to climb even with its majestic beauty. Beautifully descriptive text.

[Karol · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gregory Crouch is more than an adventure writer; he is a nature poet, chronicling his climbs in the Patagonian Andes--the near vertical faces of Cerro Torre, Fitzroy, Aguja Poincenot--fighting rock and ice, snow and wind, fear and fatigue, while conquering the otherworldly mountains straddling Chile and Argentina. Crouch’s team of climbers was the first to complete a winter ascent of Cerro Torre’s notorious west face in winter, a mind-bending feat considering how often climbs end in failure and sometimes death. His passion for climbing began as a cadet at West Point, where he scaled the Shawangunk Mountains by the Hudson River in New York, and continued long after he left the military following the first Gulf War. He worked construction jobs before becoming a full-time writer, saving every cent and going back to the Patagonian range again and again, comparing his quest to Captain Ahab’s obsession with the big white whale in Moby Dick. Crouch’s book is full of ripe metaphor and imagery: “Cracks and booms heard in the howl of storm are comprehensible to me, but not the mumbled conversations, barking dogs, ringing church bells, and the toneless organ growl that I hear…the asymphonic chorus that will pipe us into hell.” The game is survival, and those who do are the unsung heroes of climbing as in war: “True toughness sits quietly, like the dull luster of a worn pair of combat boots or a battered ice axe.”

[Chris Leuchtenburg · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fabulous read and the perfect preparation for our (very tame) trip planned to Patagonia.

Mountain climbing seems crazy -- dangerous, uncomfortable, pointless. But Crouch led me to understand its appeal.

"Here,I do not stomach compromise. I have become, like Jim, a goddamned, unrepentant alpinist, and our lives are victories, for we do not live like slaves." p. 211

"Success is to endure, to persevere, to act in the face of real fear and opportunity. Success is to chart your own seas and steer for a personal star." p. 161

[Mallory Mac · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a beautiful book. On the surface, it's a recounting of the author's time mountaineering in Patagonia, but it's so much more than that.

Throughout the memoir, Couch also considers the impact the outdoors plays in his life and perceptively ties that to what it's like being human in the modern age.

I found myself highlighting so many of his beautifully written sentences and will be revisiting them whenever I want to better connect with nature or reflect on life in general.

[Chloe · Rating 5 out of 5]

picked this book up in puerto natales, read it while in patagonia, and it gave me the alpine bug pretty damn bad. one of the best things in the book was how perfectly the constant and incredible wind there was described

[Frank · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read ......

[Tyson Titensor · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm a sucker for mountaineering books and this is one of the best I've read.

[Bob J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful story for all serious reders. The self-fulfilling "mountain adventure" story of a man who overcame his fears, achieved success, and experienced failure. Great read!

[Chris Blakemore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely one of the best mountaineering and adventure books that I have read!

[Kevin Mcclelion · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mountaineering literature classic... Right up there with David Roberts mountain of my fear. One of the few books I re-read every few years. Love it!

[Kaitlyn Zeichick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book had amazing descriptions of Patagonia (which inspired me to want to visit, but maybe not climb there), but my favorite bits were the why-we-climb self-reflections that every climber thinks. I thought he was incredibly insightful, and I wrote down a handful of quotes in my own notes that I’m sure I’ll go back to every once in a while.

The middle bit is a little slow, but it’s understandable. There’s only so many ways to write about how cold and windy it is. But it was still worth reading the whole thing.

[Owen Harrang · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit repetitive, but great climbing book and—after visiting and getting to know these peaks a bit—informs how ridiculously difficult they are to climb, especially in the era of poor weather forecasting.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overwrought, but the descriptions of Patagonian weather are good.

[Anna de Keijzer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great love letter to alpinist climbing in Patagonia and going after your passion.

[Kristen]

DNF

[Justin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Crouch's memoirs are brief but engaging for those interested in the unique experience of climbing in Patagonia. The book takes no time to get going. The first chapter describes his epic ascent of Cerro Torre after waiting out 60+ days of setbacks and the infamous inclement weather. Its the next best thing to being there as he perseveres to the summit and spends a celebratory bivy up at the top. Cerro Torre is respected by climbers not for its height but for its sheer verticality and the extreme, unpredictable weather created by the Patagonian Ice Cap. Crouch does a great job giving the reader a sense of these challenges, and of relating the awe and mystique of the Patagonian wilderness experience. The proceeding chapters are a loose collection of short climbing narratives, and personal commentary regarding the alpinist's ethos and lifestyle. Inevitably the rest of the book feels almost like an afterthought following such a climactic start. However there is still much to recommend here and Crouch

[Cameron · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is for hardcore climbers, plain and simple. I read this in southern Patagonia and found Crouch's experience and reflections true to the challenges of expedition life in the shadow of the mighty Fitz Roy. Crouch is also very thoughtful when distilling the reasoning behind extreme climbing - no easy task & for that alone, I would recommend this book. Unfortunately, I think a non-climber would have difficulty finding value in the disorganized collection of impressions and experiences that make up this book. The language doesn't grab and his flowery descriptions of Patagonia's infamous weather are written in a kind of afterglow that excludes the reader. It's an adventure novel, which means some people will like it no matter what, but this misses the mark in many ways.

[Chrissie · Rating 3 out of 5]

why oh why can we not give half star reviews?? this is clearly a 3.5 star book.

i went with 3 instead of 4 because it's really only a three star climbing book. which, for a climbing book lover like myself, means it's close to 4 stars in terms of books in general.

discussion of the star-system aside, the prose was a little too purple, and something about the writing just didn't grab me. i never really felt what the author was going through. it just didn't come across. i thought crouch was at his best when he was telling other people's stories.